Haptic Holography, was perhaps, first proposed by workers at MIT in the 80s. The Media Lab, headed up by Dr. Stephen Benton,with published papers by Wendy Plesiak and Ravi Pappuh.

Recent developments in both the technology of digital holography and haptics have made it practical to conduct further investigations. Haptic holography is auto-stereoscopic and provides co-axial viewing for the user.

Haptic holography may find application in medical & surgical training and as a new form of synthetic reality for artists and designers.

At OCAD’s PHASE Lab (Phototypes for Holographic Art and Science Explorations) workers are exploring hybrid forms of augmented reality, that combine haptics, interactivity and auto-stereoscopic imagery (animated digital holograms).
Conventional Haptic environments, while presenting a 3d physics environment, typically provide a 2D visual work/play space. Orienteering in such an environment creates uncertain spatial relationships for the user.
Our group creates 3d models from which we generate digital holographic constructs. The same model is used to create a physics environment. When the two constructs are superimposed, the result: Holograms you can touch.
Other explorations by this group include digital holographics in mobile technologies and gaming environments. This paper paper intends to predict a practical future for auto-stereoscopic imagery in hybrid technologies that form a unique sense of synthetic reality.